So which Brands own the Very Best URL's?

The best brands buy premium domain names that define their market. ​It makes sense; they enjoy the benefits such as natural type-in traffic for that domain, ease of recall, strong word-of-mouth, and are so good for social media. Benefits that last !

In fact there was a study once that showed, when people view advertising, that a generic, 'premium' URL, like CreamCheese.com (owned by Kraft; no surprise there!) had greater viewer recall than branded domains. (See Study )
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In contrast, companies that do now own the premium domains for their markets are at a disadvantage - and that continues forever. That is why many companies buy the best domains just for defensive reasons.

​Here are some brands that own truly premium domains:

Kraft - CreamCheese.com

Citibank - StudentLoan.com

Bank Of America - Loans.com

Barnes and Noble - Books.com

Bayer - Aspirin.com

CNET - News.com, Search.com, TV.com

CNN - Money.com

Country Buffet - Buffet.com

Diago - Rum.com, Malts.com, Scotch.com

Fixodent - Dentures.com

Honda - MotorCycles.com

JC Penny - Gift.com

Johnson and Johnson - Baby.com

MasterCard - Priceless.com

Merriam Webster - Word.com

Monster - Jobs.com

National Pen Company - Pens.com

Nestle - Meals.com

PetSmart - Pets.com

Procter and Gamble - Toothpaste.com, Towels.com, many mor3e

Ragu - Sauce.com

Rocky Mountain Bicycles - Bikes.com

Sylvan Learning - Educate.com

The History Channel - History.com

The Weather Channel - Weather.com

The Wedding Channel - Weddings.com

Travelocity - Vacations.com

The Map and Globe Store - Worldmaps.com

Office Depot - OfficeSupplies.com

Here is a list of some of the top prices ever paid for domains!

VacationRentals.com – $35 million, by HomeAway, in a defensive move to prevent Expedia from grabbing it.

PrivateJet.com – $30.18 million.

Insure.com – $16 million.

Hotels.com – $Price not disclosed, believe in the neighborhood of $11 million.

We are using Flippa now for Auctioning Domains

Flippa is a website I am just starting to use. It has a very clean and clear user interface, and has a lot of domain sales. I like their process, and the cost structure seems fair. They have a lot of users now and that is because, on average, the domains listed are higher quality than other places.

On domain forums, where posting is free, there are so many posts of low-quality domains that the sites are barely useful anymore. But with Flippa, you have to pay $9 to list a domain for sale (and it can go much higher if you use their marketing options). Many domains sellers have done with with Flippa.